Apple loses retail partner

Sears to drop Mac

Neither company is saying why, though Apple's planned chain of own-brand retail outlets may have more than a little to do with it.

"Apple and Sears have mutually agreed to part ways and will be phasing out our partnership over the remainder of 2001," is all a Sears spokesman, cited by MacCentral would say.

Interestingly, the move marks the second time Sears has dropped Apple product from its roster. It first pulled out of the Mac market back in 1997 after Apple announced a string of massive loss-making quarters.

Come 1999 and with the iMac successfully launched, Sears re-signed Apple, prompting effulgent praise from Steve Jobs. More recently, Apple has once again experienced a series of... er... loss-making quarters. Is history repeating itself? Sears may think so, and that may well have affected its decision too. ®